NATO, Neutrality and National Identity: the case of Austria and Hungary

After the end of the Cold War vigorous discussions developed about new alternatives in security policy in almost all the countries of the former Warsaw Pact and in the neutral and non-aligned states, including both Austria and Hungary. Central to this book are discourses and debates on neutrality and NATO, and the authors attempt to shed light on the identity-policy aspect of the NATO discussion by means of an analysis of the argumentation strategies used by supporters and opponents of NATO-membership. Whereas in Hungary it is a question of whether the country is historically a component of Europe or whether it can only realise its identity by pursuing a special course between the western and eastern worlds, in Austria it is the consequences of possibly abandoning neutrality - one of the most important constituents of the modern Austrian identity - that have been the subject of the most heated discussion.